Urgent Action

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Urgent Action Further information on UA: 14/16 Index: ASA 16/4371/2016 Myanmar Date: 1 July 2016 URGENT ACTION PRISONER OF CONSCIENCE U GAMBIRA RELEASED Prisoner of conscience U Gambira was released on 1 July after all charges against him were dropped by courts in Myanmar. On 1 July U Gambira, also known as Nyi Nyi Lwin, was released from Insein prison in Yangon after completing his sentence under immigration charges and after courts dropped all other charges pending against him. U Gambira was arrested on 19 January, several days after entering Myanmar from Thailand, where he had been living. As a Myanmar citizen, he had travelled to Myanmar to apply for a passport but was sentenced in April to six months in prison with hard labour for entering the country illegally. On 28 June he received additional charges in Yangon for activities dating back to 2012 when U Gambira was released after having been imprisoned since 2007 for his leading role in mass anti-government protests, known as the Saffron Revolution. Upon his release he tried to re-open monasteries which the authorities had closed down because of the activities of their monks during the Saffron Revolution. Amnesty International believed these charges to be politically motivated. U Gambira should have never been imprisoned in the first place. Amnesty International will continue to campaign for the release of all prisoners of conscience in Myanmar. Thank you to all those who sent appeals. No further action is requested from the UA network. This is the fourth update of UA 14/16. Further information: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/ASA16/4339/2016/en/ Name: U Gambira Gender m/f: m Further information on UA: 14/16 Index: ASA 16/4371/2016 Issue Date: 1 July 2016 .
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